Latest Area News Headlines

WORTHINGTON – Pavement restoration on Tower Street storm from 11th Avenue south 125 feet to the alley was completed Tuesday, according to the city of Worthington Engineering Department. Bituminous restoration remains.

WORTHINGTON – The Worthington High School Marching Band earned top honors over the weekend, taking first place in the Class AA Lakes Area Festival of Bands in Chester, SD on Friday and first place in the open class at the Algona Band Day Festival Saturday. They also were recognized for Outstanding Drum Majors and Outstanding Color Guard at the South Dakota festival and...

LUVERNE – Lately there have been a flurry of data breach cases in Minnesota, but one that originated in Rock County has the Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust offering the largest payoff so far over the misuse of driver’s license information.

A $2 million settlement was offered Thursday in federal court, but has yet to be approved by a federal judge. The case stems from the alleged actions of a child support officer in Rock County, who was accused of making more than 4,000 queries of the Driver and Vehicle Services database in 2010 and 2011. Janet Patten was fired, and several law...

SIBLEY, Iowa – The Osceola Love Bank in Sibley, Iowa is hoping to collect enough food to fill 25 boxes before Thanksgiving this year during a community food drive, and is making it easier to donate by providing a list of exactly what they are looking for.

They need 100 cans of fruit, 50 each of cans of cream of chicken soup, 16 ounce bags of rice and boxes of macaroni and cheese. They are looking for 25 each of Jiffy corn muffin mix, cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, mixed vegetables, large cans of turkey, large cans of chicken, bags of croutons, envelopes of dried...

BROWN COUNTY - A Worthington man is accused of having forced sex with a 16-year-old girl he met through a friend on Facebook. 19-year-old Taylor Anderson has been charged in connection with the alleged incident. Brown County authorities received a call on Tuesday from a woman who reported her daughter was sexually assaulted this past Sunday.

The criminal complaint goes on to say the incident happened at an apartment building in Springfield. Court documents say Anderson tried to choke the girl and had forced sex with her. Anderson is now facing four felony criminal-sexual conduct...

WORTHINGTON - A collaboration between the local Soil and Water Conservation District, Nobles County Environmental Services and two watershed districts is seeking public input as it prepares to amend the county’s 10-year comprehensive water plan. The plan, up for a five-year review, encompasses everything associated with water quality, from feedlot runoff and septic systems to stormwater and ag drainage.

Efforts to amend the county’s water plan are ongoing, with local agricultural groups as well as state agencies asked to weigh in on the effort. Public comment will be collected...

WORTHINGTON – It’s been a long summer of detours in Worthington, but the target date for the Highway 59 project opening is October 11. According to City Engineer Dwayne Haffield, the hope was to have the detour gone by the end of this week, but delays in the work complicated the process.

When the project is done, a new culvert will be in place, there will be full turn lanes from the north and south on Bioscience Drive, and infrastructure will be in place on the west side of the highway for future growth. Bioscience Drive will be extended to the west to make it available for more...

PIPESTONE – The Pipestone National Monument is one of the victims of the Federal Government shutdown that began today. According to an email from the monument’s Administrative Officer Mary Schwebach, the monument is not open to visitors, unable to receive mail and cannot accept deliveries until further notice.

Because of the shutdown, staff at the monument has been furloughed. According to a recording at the monument’s main phone line, staff cannot check phone messages until the government re-opens.

DUNDEE – A fire in rural Dundee Monday destroyed two hog barns, but a third that had been burning was saved. The Fulda Fire Department was dispatched at approximately 2:45 p.m. Monday to 34700 130th Street. At 3:01 p.m., mutual aid from Brewster was requested. There were no hogs in the barns, but the two barns that were a complete loss had machinery and some round bales inside. The third also held machinery.

According to Fulda Fire Department First Assistant Chief David Baumhoefner, the two barns were fully engulfed when they arrived and had already begun to collapse. The third...

READING – Authorities have released the name of the woman killed Saturday during a two-vehicle crash just south of Reading. Joann Christine Hegwer, age 83, of Worthington, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash took place Saturday afternoon at approximately 1:07 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 266 and McCall Avenue. Nobles County Sheriff Kent Wilkening said a 2012 Honda Accord driven by Mary Margaret Vold of Mason City, Iowa collided with a 2013 GMC Yukon Denali, driven by Candice Jean Rust, 51, of Magnolia. Hegwer was a passenger in Vold’s Honda. Rust also had a passenger...

LUVERNE – Adrian High School Band, followed by Murray County Central, finished first and second Saturday in the Class A-1 Parade Division Saturday at the Tri-State Band Festival in Luverne. Class A winners were Lennox High School of South Dakota and Sibley-Ocheyedan High School of Iowa in first and second place. Positions one and two in Class AA went to West Central High School, S.D. and Pipestone Area High School, while in Class AAA, first and second place went to Brandon Valley High School, S.D. and Worthington High School.